Troy notebook: Last year’s loss to ULM still haunts Troy

TROY — Halloween is coming Saturday, but the ghost of UL-Monroe past still stings Troy players.

The Warhawks handed Troy a 31-30 loss last year in Monroe, the Trojans’ only Sun Belt loss on the way to the outright conference title.

Troy is rolling so far this year, having won five straight games, but ULM is hot, too. Both teams are unbeaten in league play heading into Saturday’s 6 p.m. game in Troy.

Last year, ULM was down by nine at half and rallied for a late score in the final minute for the win. Sam Glusman’s 56-yard field goal hit off the upright. Troy finished the year 8-5, but the year was marked by giving up second-half leads to ULM, LSU and Southern Miss.

“The most frustrating part was giving up the lead we had,” center Danny Franks said. “Our M.O. is that the fourth quarter is ours. Giving up a lead like that and the same thing as LSU, you can’t do that and expect to win.”

Said defensive end Brandon Lang, “That still haunts us to this day. Until we get this game over with, that game’s still on our mind. We can’t let games like that slip by us. It messed us up because we had to wait on somebody else to win (to get back in the league title race).”

The Trojans missed three field goals and gave up a safety and were without star linebacker Bear Woods and star receiver Jerrel Jernigan.

Both are back, now. Jernigan had suffered a knee injury the week before and was rehabbing in the training room while watching the game.

“I was throwing stuff around the training room saying inappropriate stuff,” Jernigan said. “It hurt bad not being out there.”

ULM said its decision on a starting quarterback would be a gametime decision. Junior Trey Revell, who led ULM on its game-winning drive last year against Troy as a reserve, broke his thumb Oct. 13 against Arkansas State and had surgery. Redshirt freshman Cody Wells threw for 267 yards and three interceptions with a score in a 36-13 loss at Kentucky Saturday.

“Their system is their system and (Revell and Wells) are pretty similar,” defensive coordinator Jeremy Rowell said. “I was very impressed with (Revell) last year. He’s been a heck of a player for the first part of the year. (Wells) comes in and you watch him in that Kentucky game, I don’t know who I’d rather (face) in the game.”

Rowell said he isn’t fond of preparing for ULM.

“They probably worry me more than anybody else in the league because of the talent they seem to have every year,” Rowell said. “They’ve got guys running around over there that are good football players. They always seem to have some great athletes and do a good job coaching them. Their scheme is a pain in the rear and they do some things scheme-wise that are advantageous for them and not so much for us. It slows us down a lot.”

Injury update: Linebacker Kanorris Davis, who suffered a concussion against FIU, should be back this weekend after missing the North Texas game. Right guard Steve Adams sprained his left ankle against UNT and didn’t return, but expects to play. He likely won’t practice until Thursday.

“It’s pretty fat,” Adams said. “I’ve done 60 laps walking around the training room — five minutes in the ice bucket, walking around and stretching it.”

More awards: Quarterback Levi Brown, who threw for a school-record 469 yards, was named SBC Offensive Player of the Week for the fourth time in five weeks. Daniel Sheffield, who blocked a school-record two extra points, won the special teams award. Demario Davis of Arkansas State took home defensive honors.